Amid a feverish offseason overhaul of the Raiders’ roster and coaching staff, head coach Jon Gruden stated his intent for receiver Amari Cooper as far back as the NFL combine in February.

“He’ll be the focal point of our pass offense,” Gruden said in Indianapolis. “I hope he’s listening here today. … He likes the bright lights. And he’ll be the headliner in our offense.”

Cooper confirmed Tuesday he’d received the message. And he appreciated the sentiment from his coach.

“It was cool,” Cooper said. “Obviously, as a receiver, you want to go out there and make plays for your team to win. So for him to say that, it really meant a lot to me. I’m just ready to come out and work and prove that I deserve to have those opportunities.”

There was no question about that in Cooper’s first two seasons, when he recorded totals of 72 catches for 1,070 yards and 83 catches for 1,153 yards and made two Pro Bowls.

Cooper’s numbers dipped last season (48 catches, 680 yards) as he battled dropped passes and late-season injuries. His dynamism also showed in a 210-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Chiefs in Week 7. Gruden had a direct answer when asked Tuesday how Cooper can rebound from a disappointing 2017.

“He’s got to stay healthy, number one,” Gruden said. “We’ve got to do a lot of things better for him to be better, but number one I think is health.”

Cooper left Tuesday’s practice early with what Gruden described as a “twinge” in his hamstring. Afterward, Cooper declined to attribute his struggles last season to injury, saying only of his season: “I wouldn’t say it was great.”

“Definitely some things I need to work on coming into this year,” Cooper said, “and some things I have been working on so I can be better for this season.”

Being the focus of a Gruden offense would figure to help. Gruden’s teams featured a 1,000-yard receiver in every season he coached with the Raiders and Buccaneers from 1998-2008. Cooper’s numbers last year reflected the overall struggles of the Raiders offense, which finished with tight end Jared Cook (688 yards) as its leading receiver.

Tim Brown, the Hall of Famer who averaged 1,162 receiving yards from 1998-2001 playing for Gruden in Oakland, said in an interview with the NFL Network this week he expects Cooper to see a much higher volume of targets in Gruden’s offense.

“Amari’s going to be put in an incredible position to catch 100 balls year one in this offense,” Brown said. “And I think it’ll get done.”

While that is a lofty number, Cooper said Tuesday he’s optimistic about what he’s seeing so far from the coaching staff. Cooper said players are being “pushed” in the weight and meeting rooms and that Gruden is requiring receivers “to learn every single receiver position on the field because he wants to move us around a lot.”

“We have a whole lot of plays even right now, this early,” Cooper said. “We have something for everything, every defensive look out there — we can audible to something to get us in the right play for any defense.”

The Raiders’ receiver group has been one of its most fluid this offseason, with the departures of Michael Crabtree (released) and Cordarrelle Patterson (traded), and additions of veteran Jordy Nelson (who figures to start opposite Cooper), Martavis Bryant, Ryan Switzer and Griff Whalen. The Raiders also return Seth Roberts and Johnny Holton and drafted Marcell Ateman.

Bryant (6-foot-4, 211 pounds) adds an element of size and speed that Cooper has not played alongside in his three NFL seasons.

“It’ll open up the offense a lot more being that he’s so fast, he’s so dangerous with the ball in his hands,” Cooper said. “We have a lot of threats on the offense.”